Medical Negligence Solicitor: How to choose the best specialist medical negligence lawyers to make your claim for compensation

Discover what a specialist medical negligence solicitor actually is; how to check your lawyer is an expert on the Law Society clinical negligence accreditation scheme and what an insurance panel specialist solicitor means.

What is the definition of a medical negligence solicitor?

Solicitors can practise in many areas of law or just one. A solicitor who practises only in personal injury – is a specialist UK personal injury lawyer.

Medical negligence is a complex kind of personal injury with special procedures, so to become expert a personal injury solicitor may practise almost exclusively with this type of claim – a solicitor that does this is a specialist medical negligence solicitor.

What is the Law Society Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme?

A specialist personal injury lawyer who is experienced should be a member of a recognized Law Society accreditation scheme.

The Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority monitor all the solicitors practising in the UK and have various accreditation schemes for solicitors who can prove a high level of expertise in an area of law.

The Law Society considers medical negligence to be a type of personal injury requiring specialist expertise so a scheme known as the Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme was created.

To be accepted onto this scheme a medical negligence solicitor must be assessed as having sufficient experience and expertise. Applications by lawyers with many years experience are often rejected as the required standards are set to a high level.

What are the advantages of choosing a medical negligence solicitor who is a member of the Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme?

There are many advantages of choosing a medical negligence solicitor who is a member of the Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme including:

Medical Negligence Solicitor

1. To give you the option to receive legal aid

Legal aid can only be obtained from a firm that has what is known as a “legal aid franchise”. A “legal aid franchise” is granted to a firm that is assessed as having sufficient expertise to decide when a client should be entitled to make an application for legal aid to fund a medical negligence claim.

Very few legal firms have such a franchise in the UK, but a firm cannot have a franchise unless at least one solicitor is a member of the Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme.

2. To give you the best chance of winning your claim

Medical negligence can be quite complex and a lawyer who is a member of the Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme will be better able to fight your claim on your behalf and give you the best chance of success.

It is incredible, but true, that many strong claims are lost because a lawyer does not have enough experience or enthusiasm to win a claim.

3. So you can receive the maximum amount of compensation

There is a real skill to ensuring you receive the full compensation that you are entitled to. An inexperienced medical negligence solicitor may not include all the types of loss you are entitled to as part of your claim or may advise you to settle your claim too early.

If your medical negligence solicitor is a member of the Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme you should receive the maximum amount of compensation that you are entitled to.

What is an insurance company panel medical negligence solicitor?

You may have an insurance policy which pays for your legal costs in making a claim and if so the insurance company will ask you to use one of their panel solicitors.

The use of the word panel solicitor can be slightly misleading – it only means that the insurance company has a relationship with a firm of solicitors to deal with claims on the insurer’s behalf. It does not mean that a solicitor is a member of the Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme.

You policy of insurance will sometimes allow you to use a solicitor of your choosing not just the insurer’s panel solicitor.